Truex wins Pennzoil 400, advances to second round of playoffs
L A S VEG A S » Martin Truex Jr. raced his way into the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs with a victory Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the opening round of the postseason.
The win was Truex’s seriesbest fifth of the season and again cemented Joe Gibbs Racing as the team to beat in this 10-race playoff series. JGR has 14 wins this season through 27 races.
Truex, who formerly drove for Denver-based Furniture Row Racing, chased down Kevin Harvick, who was slowed by traffic, to cut into Harvick’s lead and eventually make the pass for the win — and the automatic second-round spot — on the outside with 20 laps left.
Las Vegas was a brutal opener for a handful of title contenders, including Kurt Busch, who crashed when his tire went flat and he finished last in the field. Erik Jones had an earlier mechanical issue and finished four spots higher in 36th.
The top nine finishers were all playoff contenders as Truex was followed by Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Kyle Larson and reigning series champion Joey Logano.
Kyle Busch hit the wall just five laps into the race and dropped two laps off the pace while his car was repaired. The regular-season champion rallied to finish 18th.
Pole-sitter Clint Bowyer started the race by leading all four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers to the green flag, but he never could clear the traffic and eventually dropped to a 25th-place finish.
Kurt Busch, Bowyer and Jones are now the bottom three drivers in the 16-driver field and in danger of being eliminated in two weeks.
It was 100 degrees when the race began, hours later than it did last season because NASCAR felt it was too hot for fans.
Stefanik dies in plane crash.
STERLING, CONN.» Modified stock car great Michael Stefanik died in a single-engine plane crash. He was 61.
State police say the crash happened Sunday in Sterling near the Rhode Island state line. They say the single-engine, single-seat Aerolite 103 took off from the Riconn Airport in Coventry, Rhode Island, and had been turning back toward the airfield when it crashed into a wooded area near the airport. NASCAR confirmed that Stefanik was killed in the accident.
Stefanik won nine NASCAR series championships to tie Hall of Famer Richie Evans for the record, topping the Whelen Modified Tour seven times and Busch North Series twice. He also raced in what are now called the NASCAR Xfinity and Gander Outdoors Truck series, taking rookie of the year honors at age 41 in the truck series in 1999.
“Mike Stafanik was one of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history, but even more so, he was a true representative of our sport,” NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France said in a statement. “His tough, competitive nature and excellence on the race track won him the admiration of cans and competitors alike.”
Stenanik holds the Whelen Modified Tour record with 74 victories from 1985 to 2014.